June 13, 2014

Plot holes in Maleficent for curious little beasties

Obligatory warning to the
oblivious: *SPOILERS AHEAD!*

Being a huge fan of Fables, I obviously enjoy reworkings of
fairy tales, so the trailers for Maleficent
piqued my curiosity. What backstory could she possibly have to make her curse a
child this way? Also, the trailer showed epic battle scenes: was she a
commander of a magical army? Was she a complete badass who got pissed off at
the humans’ arrogance and wanted to show them real power? That’s what I’m talking about!

Unfortunately, Maleficent fell short of my
expectations. It was a visual treat, to be sure, but the character development
was sorely lacking. Worse, there were plot holes the size of craters.

Let’s start with Stefan cutting
off Maleficent’s wings and carrying it home. The moors were populated by magical
beings who could have easily overtaken this mere human. Are you telling me that
no one saw him lugging along this obtrusive item, the trophy of his betrayal? Everyone in the moors knows
that Stefan and Maleficent are close, and no one ever thought, “Whoa, that
might be Maleficent’s wings he’s carrying! What's he doing with those?!”

And if you’re saying, “Well,
everyone in the moors might have been asleep at that time,” let me remind you
that Maleficent’s wings can fly even when they’re detached from her body. Remember
when Aurora found Maleficent’s wings, shaking encased in a glass cabinet? Couldn’t
her wings just have flown back to her and
reattached themselves while Stefan was taking them home? Why did they wait
until they were trapped in a closet to start struggling?

Moving on… Using the three
fairies as comic relief were a bit of a stretch. Not being a fan of slapstick, I
didn’t enjoy it very much. Also, because I was unsettled to see Dolores
Umbridge as a bumbling fairy instead of a manipulative, evil witch.

Aside from being annoying, the
three fairies were also grossly incompetent. When Maleficent starts cursing Aurora,
the trio just idly stood by, clutching their hands in horror. All it took was a
sweep of Maleficent’s hand to trap them in a chest, and even when they opened
the lid, they just watched instead of actually helping.

Come to think of it, no one in the entire castle had the presence of mind to stop the dark fairy.
What was the use of all the guards and knights, then? They could have at least tried to tackle her or something.[photo source]

Why King Stefan bothered to
entrust his precious child to the three stooges is beyond me.

As the film
progresses, they proved to be more useless than ever. Protecting Aurora was
supposed to be their sacred charge, but they spend their time bickering and
throwing shit at each other with nary an idea as to where their little girl is.
This is supposed to be endearing, really? Instead of doing their jobs, they let
Aurora run around willy-nilly in the forest until she stumbles upon the moors
and spends all her days there, together with the same dark fairy they were tasked to keep Aurora away from.

The part that enraged me the most
was when King Stefan spent more than a decade ordering his troops to kill
Maleficent, yet he only remembers that she’s vulnerable to iron when it was
convenient to the plot. Hey, your highness, do you remember when you cut off her freaking wings using an iron
knife? Remember that? How far gone is your memory, sire? Did you really
have to dramatically stab a wooden table with an iron dagger just to recall
that crucial bit of information?!

All said, Maleficent was predictable and ultimately forgettable. The best
part of the movie was her cheekbones:

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the thief

This neo-maxi-zoom-dweebie is Ela, an obnoxious oddball who is always looking for the next fresh start. She's a self-confessed geek who prefers fiction to reality. You can usually find her pretending to be a well-adjusted person. Contact her for your daily dose of annoyance.